Disney Princess Half-Marathon 2014 - Race Day! Part 2

Continuing on my Princess journey - if you missed Part 1 check it out here

As you pass by Contemporary Resort and approach the Magic Kingdom, you run under this little bridge and head back up with Space Mountain fully in view. I've seen multiple photos of this bridge from the different blog posts I've read about all the RunDisney races at Disney World with the guy dancing on top with the gigantic Mickey gloves. I felt like my blog post would be lacking if I didn't include a photo of him as well.

This guy is so great! I want a pair of those gloves.

The course sends you towards Space Mountain, but you don't actually enter the Magic Kingdom from the front. You run back through some alley ways, employee only areas - there's no view of the castle or Main Street USA, but you know you're close, you know you're on property and the excitement just continues to grow. There were cast members hanging out and cheering us on in this area - in fact, they were throughout the park offering support and encouragement, cheers and hi-fives.  I know Disney excels in customer service - but this was just so cool. It's around 730 a.m. and there they are, hanging out, waiting for us. It was around this point I took my headphones out. I wanted to take in the entire experience - I didn't want to miss anything.

Suddenly, we crossed through a gate and it was incredible - there it was. Main Street USA. And the people. Good gravy, the people.  They block the street off down the center - we ran towards the castle on the right side and the crowd lined the streets 5-6-7 deep on the holding signs and ringing cowbells. It's hard to describe the experience.  I grabbed some video of my run down Main Street.  Yes - I'm a dork. I always forget that you can't turn your camera to portrait when you're filming..... but I managed to remember a couple seconds in on this one. 

After running down Main Street, they send you to the right and straight to Tomorrowland. After running through, Kacey needed to make a pit stop herself.  I took advantage of the break to send a few text messages and grab a couple photos. And dig a pebble out of my shoe that was bugging me.

The castle is that way ladies - keep going!!

A look at where we had just come from - Tomorrowland

When Kacey returned, I informed her that my Garmin was reporting we were maintaining a 13+ minute pace, even with the 2 bathroom stops. We were both relieved to see that and decided to stop for photos if the lines were short enough.  After leaving Tomorrowland, we entered Fantasyland. We hopped in line to meet the White Rabbit - my photo came out blurry, but I've seen several people comment online that their photos were blurry too, so I'm guessing the cast member assigned to that spot was struggling taking photos. As we rounded the corner from the White Rabbit we could see the castle again - and this time, we were heading through!  

 As you approach the castle, you can hear the trumpters up top playing the revelry theme. I heard some people got the Rocky Theme too - but I was perfectly happy with a Royal Revelry. I remember looking at Kacey and in a very cheesy way saying "Here We Go."

If you haven't figured it out yet, I read a lot of blogs on past Princess Half Marathons to try to help me get a small idea of what to expect. One of the biggest complaints I had read about the past year or two was how crowded it was while actually running through the castle and that you could barely run. I'm so happy to report that we didn't experience that. Sure, there were a lot of people, but you can tell from my bumpy video that we had plenty of room to jog and move and enjoy the experience. After exiting the castle we made the hard left and found a short line to stand in for our official castle photo.

Oh yes, I'm beginning to feel like a princess.

We took off towards Liberty Square where we met Louis from The Princess and the Frog and then to Frontierland where we saw Woody. We were hanging out around a 16+ minute pace right now and we knew the long stretch was ahead of us, so we bypassed the princess photo set up and rounded the corner outside the Magic Kingdom. 

Hey Louis - I play the trumpet too!!

Hey there Cowboy! 

Not too far outside the park, we hit the halfway point. Each year, they have a contest to vote on what the song for the halfway point of the race would be. For a while, I was pretty sure Katy Perry's "Roar" would win easily when the time came to vote. And then "Frozen" came out and it became clear that "Let It Go" would be our song - I'm sure the vote wasn't even close. And so there I was, halfway through my first half-marathon and the emotions began to take over. You see, "Let it Go" is my Kennedy's favorite song right now. She sings it all the time - I am not ashamed to admit that I will belt it out as loud as I can when it comes on the radio myself. It was at this point that I realized what I was doing, just how incredible of an accomplishment it had been so far, and just how much I love and missed my kids. I got very choked up - it took everything I had not to break down completely. We stopped for photos in front of the halfway sign and I didn't care who was around - I sang along to the song as loud as I possibly could, arms in the air, even dancing a little bit. This was my celebration time - and I knew that I needed to enjoy this while I could because the hardest was yet to come. 

Oh, don't worry - I will!! Tired, sweaty and probably off-key, I definitely sang along. 

Part 3 coming soon....

Disney Princess Half-Marathon 2014 - Race Day! Part 1

I knew it would happen, so when I woke up at 1 a.m. in a panic that my alarm hadn't gone off, I really wasn't surprised. I laid in bed and played on my phone until my alarm went off at 2:15 a.m. I kept waiting for the nerves to kick in, but they never did. I was calm, strangely calm. I think I knew I was going to finish - I think I knew I was going to be fine.

I had laid out my clothes the night before so I was ready to go. Cleaned up, put a little make up on and ate a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and a banana. I contemplated taking a long-sleeved shirt but after walking about 100 feet outside, decided against it and went back to the room. It was a good decision as the heat and humidity would be a factor later on. I kissed Mark good bye and told him I'd see him at the finish line.

Flat Janae laid out and ready to go. I'm not a huge pink/sparkle girl so this was a perfect outfit for me. I could still dress up but be comfortable.

I got a kick out of seeing all the other women staying at Art of Animation heading towards the bus stop. Along the way, I met a wonderful lady from New York who runs almost all the Run Disney races. We chatted the entire way to the bus, sat together and then chatted up until we got to the race reunion area before saying farewell and good luck. I was so happy to have met her - she kept me from thinking about what I was about to do and made the long bus ride and short walk to EPCOT fun. 

A few months back, through a Facebook group dedicated to the Princess Half, I met a gal named Kacey. Somehow we started chatting, realized our 10K times were pretty similar and decided to run the race together. This ended up being a HUGE blessing for me, but I'll explain that later. We were going to meet up at the race reunion area before heading to the corrals so I sat on the ground and stretched for while waiting on Kacey. After she arrived, she made the suggestion of hitting the porta potties before going to the corral. I'm not a porta pot girl, but felt like she was probably smart in her suggestion and decided to suck it up - it was a helluva a good decision too! With an hour to go until race time, they began calling us all to our corrals. I thought that was a bit excessive, until I realized we were going to have a 20+ minute walk to our starting corral. Holy cow - those blogs I read from last year's race weren't kidding - it's a crazy long walk. The humidity was high and evident - we saw one runner already down on the ground before we even got to the corral. I quickly began to evaluate my strategy. Kacey and I found our corrals and sat down to stretch and relax a little more - and discuss plans. We decided to skip all character photos until we got inside Magic Kingdom -Kacey wanted to give us enough cushion that we could finish the race at an even pace without having to worry about playing catch up the entire time. What a smart gal - she was spot on with that assessment we soon discovered.  Kacey runs - I run/walk. I told her that no matter what, if I began to hold her back she needed to just keep going and not worry about me - I didn't want to impact her race. Again, a smart conversation as this would later prove to be a true statement. 

We casually chatted with people around us and also enjoyed the pre-race festivities on the big screen. Oh yeah, and the surprise for the military wife - absolutely incredible!!! Loved, loved, loved that. Bravo Run Disney.

Before we knew it they were sending corrals off.  At 6:01 a.m. - we crossed the starting line.  The fun was about to begin...

The starting line as Corral I gets the green light to GO!

I let Kacey set the pace since she would be running - she settled in comfortably around 13 minutes and I had no problems staying with her. I actually ran at least the first mile - possibly close to the second mile (I really don't remember). I started my run/walk - not with intervals unfortunately - it was still dark, it was humid, and I didn't want to continue looking at my watch. I would walk until I felt good and start running again. I managed to keep pace with Kacey as she continued to run, and if I fell back a little bit I kept her in my sights. The crowd that had gathered down the first quarter mile or so was crazy - people cheering, tons of cow bell - it was fantastic. When we got passed the cheering crowds, a local high school band was in the median of the road playing and cheering for us - I loved that they were out there so early in the morning to kick off our race. 

The mob of people never seemed to cease. We did a lot of bobbing and weaving - slowing down and then picking the pace back up. I didn't let it frustrate me though - I knew it was coming and expected as much. But, it was still a little shocking that there were so many people. Kacey and I both had headphones in and were zoned in to music but would tap each other to get attention if we wanted to say something. I felt a tap on my shoulder and she was pointing ahead - the Mile 1 marker sign was in view! I felt good - my breathing was not bothering me at all. BUT, I had no feeling in my feet. For the first 3 miles both my feet were numb - I have no idea what happened, or why it happened, but it scared me a little. I tried to just keep going and not think about it. I also began to realize that my trip to the porta pot early may not have been a good idea - I had broken the proverbial seal. I had to go again - bad. I didn't want to stop and slow Kacey down yet - I wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom before stopping - but I was getting increasingly concerned that I wouldn't make it (TMI - I know...but hey, it's a recap.)

Somewhere between miles 1 and 2 there were these cool birds that people were flying around in the sky, similar to kites, and fittingly the song "Let's Go Fly a Kite" was playing.  CMNH (the official charity of the race) also had a big set up around mile 2 with groups of people cheering us on. As we approached mile 3 we saw our first characters - Jack Sparrow and his ship.  The line was insane - and I had no desire to stop for him anyway - so we took a peek and kept running. I got a kick out of watching a guy in front of me hop off to the side and into a batch of trees behind the pirate ship - apparently he couldn't wait for a real bathroom in the Magic Kingdom. 

We also came up on a photo I really wanted - the heroes. The line - holy crap, the line. There was no way. Kacey and I decided to cross our fingers the line would be shorter on the way back and kept right on running. If I do this race again, I may stop and make it my only character stop on the course. 

Soon, we saw a glorious site - the ticket area for the Magic Kingdom. I stopped to grab a photo - but as you'll see, the humidity was so thick the photos make it look like it's raining.

YEA!  The Castle will be in my view soon. 

After we crossed through the ticketing areas we approached the Walt Disney World Speedway. They had an Exotic Car and a RPDE corporate car out front with a couple company drivers for photos. I was fairly disappointed there was no Lightning McQueen or Mater - I stopped to grab a quick photo of the set up and kept running. After a while, we came up to an entry point - with bathrooms!!!! I told Kacey I had to stop and ran right to the men's room - the line was shorter. This was a highlight of my race - the gal in line in front of me and I came oh, so close to squatting over a urinal - we didn't want to wait. And then it happened - guys walked into the bathroom, a little surprised to see what was in front of them. I told them not to worry, we wouldn't peek - they apparently weren't worried either. (Again, I know it's TMI - but I'm recapping my race - I don't want to forget anything - this is my diary as well).

We also passed by another photo stop I really wanted to make - the Villains. I knew the line would be long for this one too - and Kacey and I were keeping a good 13 minute pace, so we stopped to grab photos of them candidly but didn't get in line. 

Kacey and I took off with the crowd and headed to the right, around the lake and past the Contemporary Resort. I looked ahead and realized - this was it - the castle was coming.  

Stay tuned for Part 2....

Disney Princess Half-Marathon Day 1: The Expo

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I pretty much quit blogging for a while. I just didn't have time. But now, I'm going to try to do a better job and keep this blog updated as much as possible as my journeys continue. I started this blog as a way to keep myself accountable as I trained for my first half-marathon. And as I slacked off on my blogging, my training suffered as well. I knew it would happen - and it did. However, as the race got closer, I kicked myself in the butt and tried to train as hard as I could for the final couple of weeks. And now, I can say that I did it - I'm officially a half-marathon runner. More on that later.  In true blog fashion, I'll start with the beginning of my experience.

We flew to Orlando late Wednesday with the main goal of getting to the expo early on Thursday. It's the sole reason I wanted to spend our vacation time before the race, versus after. I wanted to get to the expo. I'd read so many horror stories about past expos and continuous gripes about the merchandise being out of stock. I wanted the "I Did It Shirt" - because, well, I needed as much motivation to finish this race as I could find. And, what's more motivating than a $32 shirt that says you did something - you damn well better finish that race so you can wear that shirt.

We got to the expo about 10 a.m. and I couldn't believe the people that were heading inside. I had butterflies - I won't lie. We walked up and I felt the need to pose for a photo with the banners - I saw so many of these posed photos during my Facebook and Twitter stalking of Dopey runners, that I had to do it myself.

Yea!!! Let's hurry up and do this thing!

We went straight in and headed to bib pickup. We failed to read the signs and ended up making a lap around the top before a nice volunteer let us know where to go. I was able to walk right up and stand in a line of one person before getting my bib and my pin I forgot I had purchased at registration.  Super easy and quick - loved it. 

Holy smokes - it all became real when I had this in my hand!!!

We headed out of that building and next door to the Jostens Center where my packet - and the big Run Disney booth - was waiting for me. I was a little overwhelmed at first at all the people, but then realized that was nothing and there would probably be tons more coming the following day. I kept getting distracted and wanted to look at other things, but Mark kept pushing me ahead to the shirt/gear pick up tables so we could get things going.  Picked up my bag and shirt with no problems and walked right into the merchandise mecca. I started shopping for a brief second before realizing I needed to find the shirt - that's the whole reason we were there on Thursday. I walked up to the table and got a large in my hot little hands - I heard by Friday they were sold out of the I Did It shirts, so I was so happy we made that our first stop. I shopped around a little more and purchased a tumbler too.  We roamed the expo for a while but nothing caught our eye - except the Run Disney booth where the blings were hanging - plus the cool buttons Run Disney had laying out free helping us tout what we were celebrating. I grabbed a 1st Half-Marathon button and an I'm celebrating button and slapped them on my backpack. After about 45 minutes of wandering around, we called it a day and headed out to find some food. We ran over to Downtown Disney and enjoyed lunch at Crossroads at House of Blues. We spent some time walking around DD but decided to back to the hotel and relax.  Later found a great little pizza joint in the neighborhood for dinner and spent sometime outside our hotel on the patio furniture enjoying the beautiful night, the cool air blowing, and the peace and quiet that comes as result of leaving your children at home.  My brain wasn't hurting for the first time in years - it felt so good.

Who picked up some great goodies at the Expo???  As a rookie, I thought the Expo was laid out well and not too crazy - what did you think?

Yikes - I'm slacking...

Wow, I knew I had been slacking off with my blogging, but I had no idea it had been this bad. Oh well, guess it's a good thing the blog isn't really picking up traction and I'm the only one reading it. I've tried blogging in the past, but fell into the same trap.

With 111 days to go until my half-marathon, things are slow. Mark is out of town for about 10 days so I'm going to be facing the dreadmill this week for my training. After running my first 10K two weekends ago, I took a week off to let myself rest and recover - plus, we had days of torrential, non-stop rain and Halloween, so I wasn't able to get in the miles. I don't have another 10K until the end of this month, so I'm going to focus on improving my pace and distance running while increasing my mileage by 1-2 miles before the 10K.

I'll recap my 10K later this week - and I need to evaluate my goals for the week too.  Ugh, I'm such a slacker. I need a little inspiration.

I ran with the penguins...and then brought one home.

I'm a few days behind in my posting, but life gets in the way sometimes, ya know?

On Saturday the 5th, I ran my longest race yet - the Kansas City Zoo Run for the Penguins - a 4 mile run. I've only trained at 4 miles once or twice, so I wasn't sure how I would do, but I felt pretty confident overall.  My best 5K time so far was 35 minutes, but my best 4 mile time in training was 56 minutes. I set my goal to come in under 48 minutes - that would be a 12 minute mile and that would be a big accomplishment for me.

I felt really good when I woke up - I even slept well the night before. That should have been my first clue. I always eat before I run - sometimes less than 30 minutes before my training runs due to the fact that it's getting dark earlier. I decided I wanted to give myself some good fuel for the run, so I made eggs and added a little cottage cheese to the side for some protein. Holy hell, what a horrible idea. The race started 2 hours after I ate, yet halfway through the race I quickly learned what a bad decision I had made.

Overall, 1,931 people took part in the 4 mile race. I knew it would be a big one so I really tried to mentally focus on running my race (and not taking last.) Before the race began, I ran into my son's kindergarten teacher who is a marathoner. Since I run alone and my husband stays home with the kids on race mornings, it was really nice to have someone to chat with before the race started. Her friends were delightful to talk to as well - I think it helped me settle down before the run.

Ms. Kranz (my son's kindergarten teacher) and me before the race started

By accident, I signed up for the wrong wave. Multiple times I considered joining the wave behind, which is the one I should have been in, but I decided to stay put. I felt that it would help my psyche if I stayed in the faster wave and let myself settle into a groove. It ended up being a good decision. While everyone smoked me when we crossed the finish line, and several people from the wave behind me caught up, I was able to move all the way to the right, find a groove and just run. I crushed the first 1-1.5 miles. I know I ran that entire way and I was feeling pretty good. I also knew that I had started out FAST. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to set my RunKeeper app to cycling instead of running before the race so I have no idea what my 1 and 2 mile pace times were, but I have a feeling I was pushing sub-10. I was crushing it.

Then, it happened. The eggs reared their ugly head. I got almost to the 2 mile marker and began to feel like I was going to be sick. A couple times I looked for a place to throw up. I was so miserable. I would stop to walk, but my legs were not happy. They wanted to keep running - that had me excited once I had a chance to think about it. My body felt good and didn't want to stop running. My breathing was good - and my brain wasn't telling me to slow down or stop or you can't do it. My stomach was though. I got myself calmed down and began to try to find a comfortable interval to finish the race at.

I ended up walking almost the entire 3rd mile - I felt that sick. It upsets me to think about now as I know I could have kept running and turned in a really good time. But, I didn't want to throw up in the lion exhibit. So, I took it easy. Somewhere between miles 3 and 4 we got rained on.  The temperatures were cool, it was really some nice weather to run in.

As we cruised closer to the finish line, the people that were coming out to cheer on the finishers was pretty incredible. So far, the largest cheering squad I've experienced. They were yelling at us to finish strong, encouraging us to keep pushing, and incorrectly telling us the finish line was just around the corner :-) I did yell at someone for that. Suddenly, I realized that everyone was wearing a cute little penguin medal - I had no idea this race gave out finisher medals. That was all the motivation I needed - I kicked it into gear a little faster and pushed to the finish line.

At the post-race party with my cute little penguin medal

Overall, it was a fun race. I wish I wouldn't have felt so nauseous - I would have liked to have pushed it a little harder and finished better. I also wish it wouldn't have been so cold because a lot of the animals were hiding from us, trying to keep warm. But, I'm really happy with how I finished. This is a race I will do again - I'm already excited for next years - plus, I can't wait to find out the animal the race will be supporting and my medal will be sporting. 

I crossed the finish line at 46:15 with an 11:34 pace (seriously, I had to have destroyed my miles 1&2 pace times).  I finished 1,030 out of 1,931 racers; 578 out of 1,265 female race; 123 out of 256 F 30-34. There isn't a number in that mix that I'm disappointed with. I am sure there are 30 more people I could have passed to break 1,000th place, but that's okay. I know what mistakes I made that held me back and I will definitely not make them again! 

Logan's teacher told me that when she told the kids she was doing a penguin race, he asked her if that meant we were going to bring home a penguin after the race. It was really cool to come home and tell him I did get to bring home a penguin, and then show him my medal.

I mapped out a 4+ mile trail by my house, so I'm ready to begin training for my longer runs. I have a 10K in just a couple weeks - and I'm already really excited about it. I think if I train hard the next couple weeks, I can do a 1:03 time for that race. That would be so crazy, but I think I can do it. I'll just have to settle in, find my pace and run my own race. We'll see.

Goals for this week:

Going to rest today and then head out tomorrow to get in my 4 miles. Plan to try to keep the pace I ran the race at and see if I can run at least half the miles.

I'm a brand ambassador!!!

I never imagined becoming a brand ambassador for any kind of running company. I figured I would have to have 8-9 minute miles or a ton of followers or something like that.

When I learned that Swirlgear was looking for ambassadors, I was curious. I filled out the application, which surprisingly was far more concerned with info about my support system and why I run then how far, how often, etc. I was surprised to receive an e-mail back inviting me to be an ambassador. There had to be a catch, right? Well, there is, sort of. You have to purchase 2 pieces of clothing - at 50% off. That's it. Wear their gear - tell people about their gear - provide a code for free shipping. Now, I'm a cheapskate. Really, I am. I hate to pay more than $10 on any article of clothing. When I saw the prices of their gear I almost choked. Now - their stuff isn't expensive. It's really not more than the Nike or Under Armour gear I see in the stores. But I don't pay those prices and head straight for the clearance racks. So, was the opportunity to be a brand ambassador worth the price - even at half off.

I took a week to think about it and decided to bite the bullet. At the very least, I have a new shirt and a new jacket to wear when I train. Depending on how much I enjoy the gear, I just may buy the yellow shirt they have as the final piece of my Belle costume for the Princess Half Marathon. I'm excited about my purchases and impatiently waiting for my package to arrive.

What has impressed me so far is the enthusiasm and communication from their corporate office. I received 3 welcome to the team e-mails and a plethora of info to help me get acquainted. There was also a private Facebook group for brand ambassadors so we can share pictures and personal accomplishments as well as a place for the corporate office to provide us with new information.

So, with that said, I encourage everyone to check out Swirlgear's gear: http://www.swirlgear.com/  Want free shipping on your order?  Use the code swirlon at checkout.

In the meantime, when I get my gear I'll get some pictures online so you can see my new duds. Happy running!

Third 5K - I beat my own mental game....

I was not feeling it this morning. I had a 5K race this morning, the last one of my training that I have scheduled, and I was not feeling it. I woke up unprepared, especially mentally. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough morning.

I really wanted to PR this morning. I also wanted to run the first mile of the race, possibly more. I spent the drive to the course getting myself pumped up mentally.  Lots of "you can do this" and "you got this" on the drive. I knew it was going to be a big race in terms of numbers - I also knew there would be a lot of walkers. I felt like if I got myself in a good mid-pack start at the starting line and kept a slow, but comfortable pace I could make this a great race. 

I managed to beat my mental game.

For the first time in a race, I ran the first mile. I slowed down to remove my sweatshirt, which ended up being the worst decision I made all day. I was in a groove and moving well - and just like that, my momentum was gone. All the muscles started hurting, my breathing became labored and I had to start alternating my running with walking. From that point on, I struggled breathing. I had a hard time catching my breath and getting myself relaxed to the point I could run well again. I pushed through and managed to finish strong, but was just a little disappointed. Overall though, I felt fantastic and was really proud of myself for the race I ran today.

I PR'd by 1 min 20 seconds - my avg pace was nuts. I really wish I would have ran my RunKeeper during the race because I'm curious what my splits were. I really think I ran a 10 minute mile today.  I took 27 out of 50 in my age group and 360 out of 657 participants. 

On a side note - this was really a great race. The Panera Bread Diabetes Dash for Life 5K - it was an inaugural event and the organizers did a great job. They had bagels, bananas and coffee for us before the race and bagels, bananas, cookies, scones, coffee and water after the race. We also got some pretty incredible finisher medals. This race is on my list for future years - I'll definitely participate again. 

Today's Stats:

3.1 miles
35:40 minutes
11:22 avg min/mil
If the half-marathon was today: appox. 2:45:08

Goals for next run
Going to take a couple days off to recover. The left knee and ankle are sore, which is normal for me on a non-running day, but a running day only exacerbates the issue. My runs from here on out have to be at least 4 miles as my next race is a 4 mile run on Oct. 4.